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Saturday, May 28, 2011

On the way to the airport Thursday I managed to drop off the next set of projects for the DIEnomite!! class series. More fun techniques to get the most from your dies and machine. You can find the other projects on the Class Projects tab.

I love the extra dimension that I got on these leaves. This is one technique I'll be using a lot going forward!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Woo Hoo!! I'm so happy to FINALLY participate in a challenge at the Playhouse. Here's my entry for the multi-mat challenge. Now after my second nap of the day - I'm on vacation after all!! - I'm postingit and am going to start getting a bunch of cooking done for my overnight crop tomorrow.

Nearly everything is PTI on here. Dies for my multiple mats are Mat Stack 3, Mat Stack 2 & Ad Sense. Stamps sets are Background Basics: Sheet Music, Label Basics. I also used coaster board for the two white stamped pieces. The star is a die from Spellbinders and the circle image is from 7 Gypsies. I printed the sentiment off the computer. The yellow distress dot paper is also PTI. It's simple & straight forward. But it makes me happy to feel like I finally created something for no other reason than for the joy of it.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Not only is Jennie a wonderful color-er, but she's an organizational nut like me. :) I love my Copic wallets but they take up so much space on my desk when I pull out all 5 of them. Jennie just posted this fabulous idea on her Facebook tonight. So what else was there for me to do but run right out and duplicate it?!!

The Art Bin Double Deep Satchel was on sale so I didn't even have to use a precious coupon on it. I was happy to find the bin in clear rather than a color because, well, I am that anal retentive about stuff like that.

A super fast stop at Lowe's for the ceiling grid and a square dowel. In a totally weird spot so you may want to save yourself some time and just ask for it. The piece I got was pretty big and I could make another easily.

Here's a picture with it all assembled.

This shows the bin towards the front where I'm storing some of the stuff I like to keep with my markers. My Various Ink Refill for the Colorless Blender, multi-liners, fabric scraps, tape to mark my markers, a couple of ink pallets and a color wheel.

A couple of things I found when I was putting this together.
- It was so stinkin' simple it isn't even funny! Absolutely NO technical skills needed. I did use the saw & miter box to cut the square dowels but those aren't mandatory. I just used some snips to cut the ceiling grid. It was just plastic so it was no stress or strain on my hands.

- I found that putting the top grid down to about the middle of where my markers are made it easier for me to pull them out. Maybe I've got fat fingers or it's because of my fingernails but when the grid was at the top I was just getting the lid. Not good.

- Because I am anal retentive (or as Jennie said OCD) I had previously marked each of my markers with red electrical tape. I put the tape in the same place on each marker cause I'm like that.

- The electrical tape made it a more snug fit into the ceiling grid spaces (could have also contributed to not being able to get them out when the grid was at the top) but because I put the tape in the same place on all the markers I was able to just turn them all the same way and put them in and the electrical tape is just above the grid. So no more snug fit.

- I had a piece of thin styrofoam-ish board that I put under the bottom grid to keep my markers at the same height. I wouldn't recommend doing this AFTER you've already put all your markers in the grid. Just trust me on that.

- Don't leave spaces between your color families. Just run one into the next. You'll have some extra spaces but not that many. Again, just trust me on it.

This definitely takes up less space on my desk than the wallets did. Packing my markers for class should be A LOT easier. And seeing all of my colors in one spot, lined up in rainbow colors makes me happy. :)

Monday, May 23, 2011

I'm so excited to be heading back into the pine country and begin teaching in Payson. I just love that store and Barb & Brenda are amazing ladies!! My samples are off in the mail and will hopefully get to the store quickly.

Every other month I'll be showcasing a specific technique using Copic markers on the 2nd Friday from 11:00 to 12:30 in my Copic Inspirations:Technique class. Each Technique class will include information and practice pages to create your own Techniques binder. Here's how I've started personalizing my binder!

I'm kicking off this class series with one of the most misunderstood (& likely most misused) markers in the Copic line up, the blender pen.
The blender pen is one of the coolest things about coloring with Copics but knowing how and when to use it to get the effect you're wanting is a little tricky. I'll help you understand what this little marvel can AND can't do to improve your artwork.

From 1:30 to 3:30 will be the Copic Inspirations: Project class.

Here's one of the card's for June. This card may have a small colored image but don't let the size fool you! It's packed with techniques, including airbrushing!! The other 2 cards are shown on the Class Projects tab with all the information regarding colors we'll be using and any special tools you should bring.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

A fun little post to share some of the crafty stuff I've been up to. Today my niece, Tricia, were crafting at the same table. Making things for her new room. She created a totally awesome canvas to hang up. Painted it differently than I expected and I love it! It's way cooler than the one we saw at Ikea (can't believe I said that!) and definitely a lot cheaper!

I saw some totally adorable little owls, another favorite theme of her's, on Pinterest (I can not even explain how addicting that place is! If you haven't been sucked in, you're lucky!). Click the links to see the inspiration from EffemeraInk. My versions are below.

Side-ish view so you can see all the fabrics and details a little better

more head on view of Fred, George & Sam as I named them

One thing I did was to use some beans to keep them upright and stable. Just poured a few into a sandwich bag, rolled it up, taped it together and stuffed it into the bottom after I'd stuffed the bird, so to speak. If you look closely you can see that I used some Spellbinders dies to embellish them. Just love those little suckers. They make so many projects so much faster and easier!

Speaking of dies - I'm nearly done creating the projects for the next DIEnomite class at The Creative Quest. Look for that post to go up soon. And tomorrow will have a post on the Copic Inspirations classes for Payson.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

This is one of the projects for the next DIEnomite class at The Creative Quest. June's DIEnomite projects feature butterflies, big and little and all in a row. You can find the other 2 projects and all the details on the Class Projects tab.

Masculine cards are always some of the hardest to create it seems. This card for the June Copic Club at The Creative Quest make a Father's Day card a snap! The second card is posted on the Class Projects tab.

I've started cleaning out the garage and extra bedroom. If you've seen them you know what a task this is going to be. But it also means I'll be coming across a number of items to sell. More items have been added to the For Sale tab.

Monday, May 9, 2011

I'm so excited to be able to offer classes at The Frenzy Stamper (this one's for the blog). If you've never been out there, you've definitely been missing out. If you dig cool, eclectic & out of the ordinary than Debbie has it in spades! Certainly one of the grungiest, funkiest & amazing places to go create in. I'll be offering my Copic Inspirations classes here on a monthly basis. June kicks of the series with some cards I really enjoyed creating. Here's one of them. You can find the other 2 on the Class Project tab.

I'm also hard at work for more classes and projects to offer all around town. Look for them to be announced here and on the schedule along the left side of the blog.

In other news....

- home improvements have been moving right along. Found a rug that was perfect for the living room a week or so ago at (where else??!) Ikea.

- moved the coffee table from the family room to the living room and put together a new (say it with me) Ikea coffee table for the family room.

- Mel & our neighbor laid down the tile in Bret's old room tonight. Is looking more and more like we'll be able to get Tricia moved in there no later than the end of the week

- thanks to Julie I've got an awesome new towel bar & tp holder for the master bath. Had to get a matching piece to replace the hand towel holder along Mel's side. Want to guess where they came from?

- I can not wait to create the coolest looking pallet bed I saw on Pinterest in the extra bedroom once Tricia is moved out of there. I've already got about a million ideas for how I want to decorate. Oddly enough, very shabby chic, vinatge-y with a mix of patterns. Will re-purpose the orange stuff in there currently into my office. Much as I like the black & white fabric I'm ready for something new.